TV Review: RAY DONOVAN – Episode 2.06 – Viagra [Showtime]

Showtime’s Ray Donovan Viagra TV Show Review. Ray Donovan: Season 2, Episode 6: Viagra finally showed the viewer what they had surmised about the Cochrans and the Volcheck for the last two episodes. The nudity during their session was ‘interesting’ but FBI Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge Tony Volcheck (Kip Pardue)’s reaction to Donna Cochran (Sherilyn Fenn)’s sexual entreatments was even more entertaining.

Because of this situational realization and what later ensued with Ray Donovan, it was surprising that ASAC Volcheck was blind to all of the angles at play. The only person that Donovan’s scheme would not hurt was Ray Donovan. By recording the Cochran / Volcheck sexual escapades, Donovan will not only have leverage over one of them but both of them. Didn’t Volcheck ask himself: Why is Ray Donovan helping me? Why can I trust him with the contents of that recording? He can’t. He is effectively trading one boss for another one. FBI Special Agent Ed Cochran (Hank Azaria) only wanted to have sex with Volcheck’s wife and have him enact coitus with his own. Ray will have Volcheck covering up all manner of criminal acts for him, doing favors him favors, etc. Because of that tape, Ray Donovan may come out of the Cochran situation with not only one FBI agent in his pocket but three.

Frances (Brooke Smith) showing up at Terry Donovan (Eddie Marsan)’s door was a surprise but his reaction to that event was not. The hungry lion pounced on the offered meal with full abandon, everything bad that had happened in the interim gone in an instant.

The growing friendship between Mickey Donovan (John Voight) and Shorty (Steph DuVall) is well-defined. It’s genuine, showcasing the healthy aspects and nature of Mickey, few though they may be. Why can’t Mikey be that giving and sweet to his own family? Perhaps because he has no responsibilities with Shorty and no predisposed judgements from a shared past. When Mickey put his foot in his mouth with one of his two only friends, he knew it immediately. What was remarkable was that he did not have the capacity to walk ten feet and fix it.

Ashley Rucker (Ambyr Childers) wanting to be in a relationship with a man that strikes a food server for bringing him his food is almost beyond comprehension, taking Steve Knight (Eion Bailey)’s appearance, fortune, and fame out of the equation. The brief fist-i-cuffs shows that there is more to Knight than his charm and showmanship. There is also the presence of the giant, narrative red herring mentioned during Ray and Steven’s introduction: Steven is getting a divorce from his wife, a divorce that might cost him hundreds of millions of dollars. With Ray Donovan on the payroll, Knight could simply kill his wife and tell Ray to him make it look like an accident. Ray has fixed dead body’s before. He’d be extremely upset with Knight but he would do it, especially to stay on Knight’s payroll at the rate he is getting per month.

Bunchy Donovan (Dash Mihok) attempting to overcome his sexual anorexia was the moment in the episode when the viewer was rooting for an on-screen character. Ray has the brains and Mickey has the street smarts to get themselves out of most jams but Bunchy is a different story. He is ill-equipped for the rigors of a relationship of a single mom let alone with the responsibility of raising a child. When Patty (Heather McComb)’s son laid her head on Bunchy’s Viagra-solidfied lap, it was awkward and queasy. What was going through Bunchy’s head at that moment? Did what the Priest did to him when he was younger flash through his head? Did he like having a young boy’s head on his lap? Did he fear that the boy would ‘feel’ him? These are disturbing questions but no more disturbing than what may have been going on behind Bunchy’s wide eyes and growing uncomfort.

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About the author

Rollo Tomasi

A Political Science and MBA grad who started FilmBook during an eCommerce B-School course in 2008. Cinema and TV addict. Former writer at Empire Movies, Blogcritics, and Alternative Film Guide. In addition to writing for FilmBook, he also edits the copy published on the website, manages its writing staff, manages the back-end operations, site finances, its social network accounts, and works with publicists, actors, and companies on press coverage and promotions. He has also created ProMovieBlogger.com and Trending Awards.com.